WXC Heads to NCAA Regionals
11/8/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Following a week off after running at the BIG EAST Championships, an energized Seton Hall women’s cross country team is set to compete at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships.
The meet will be held tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 9 in State College, Pa. The 6K women’s race will start at 12:00 p.m. and will be followed by the 10K men’s competition at 1:15 p.m.
Last time out, both squads recorded 14th place finishes at the conference meet, as senior leaders Hughnique Rolle (Nassau, Bahamas) and Jared Hanko (Montville, N.J.) continued to set the pace for their respective teams.
On the women’s side, Rolle has been a standout performer for the Pirates, leading the team in the last nine races dating back to last year’s trek at the Regionals. In SHU’s last trip to Pennsylvania, Rolle set a new personal record with a 6K time of 22:35.86 at the Leopard Invitational (10/13). Her steady contributions have been at the forefront of a resurgent effort from the women’s team this season that has included four top-three team finishes and the school’s best performances in recent years at both the Metropolitan and BIG EAST Championships.
This year, such consistency has extended to the entire roster and has been a major factor in the team’s improvement as a whole. Behind continued strong showings from Rolle; the same four team members have comprised the remainder of the scoring contingent for Seton Hall over the past four outings.
Junior Nyala Eddings (Chicago, Ill.) is coming off her fourth second place team-finish of the year at the BIG EAST Championships and has been another central figure in the team’s efforts this season. Eddings also set a new personal best 6K mark at the Leopard Invitational, running a 22:56.98 to eclipse her previous best by over a minute and a half.
After leading the Pirates in the first seven races of her collegiate career, sophomore Mary Migton (Ledgewood, N.J.) has continued to play a significant role for the Pirates in her sophomore campaign. Migton has scored for The Hall in all seven meets, posting the second-fastest time on the team on three occasions. She finished third on the squad at the conference championships and has finished among SHU’s top-four in every collegiate event she has competed in.
Newcomer Amanda Quaglia (Reading, Pa.) will return to the “Keystone State” to compete at the Regionals for the first time in her career. Thus far in her freshman campaign, Quaglia has provided an instant influx of quality to the Seton Hall lineup, bringing coach John Moon’s preseason prognostications to fruition.
Prior to the season, Moon stated “…it is apparent that Alex [Ryan] and Amanda [Quaglia] can be top-five level contributors right away.”
Quaglia has not disappointed, posting two top-three team finishes and scoring for the Pirates in every race to this point in the year.
Classmate Alex Ryan (Aurora, Colo.) hit the ground running in the first few appearances of her career, placing among the top-five on the team in each of the first three meets. Since then, Ryan has continued to run well, finishing just behind an emergent Kristen May (Shrewsbury, Mass.) on several occasions.
A junior in her second year of competition, May has rounded into form during the latter part of the season. The Shrewsbury native has finished fifth on the squad in four consecutive races, highlighted by her own career-best performance at the Leopard Invitational. May delivered a 6K time of 24:44.42 that was more than three and a half minutes quicker than her previous mark.
In tomorrow’s race, the Pirates will be going up against the largest field they have seen this season, a common characteristic of the championship-style meets that round out the season. Last year, 199 female runners from 29 different schools competed at the event.
All five scorers from the trip to last year’s regional meet are still on the Seton Hall roster. Rolle led the way, followed by Migton and Eddings. Seniors Christina Chafos (South Amboy, N.J.) and Marigot Lustyk (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) finished one spot apart from each other to complete SHU’s top-five.
With those efforts, the Pirates recorded a cumulative score of 736 to finish 27th. Villanova and Georgetown return as defending co-champions after posting matching scores of 57 in 2011.
The Regionals were last held in State College in 2010, a race that saw Seton Hall take home a 26th place team finish.
Following the completion of the Regionals, the Pirates will have a week off before closing the 2012 season at the ECAC Championships. The meet is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 17 at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
The race will mark the Pirates’ third trip to VCP this year.
